van dtjzee



(ModeL) 0. A. VAN DUZEE.

FOLDING TABLE.

No. 258,509. Patented M33323, 1882.

N. PETEr's, Fhuxa-Lime n h NITED STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. VAN DUZEE, OF GOUVERNEUR, NEW YORK.

FOLDING TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,509, dated May 23, 1882.

Application filed Ja11nary3,1882. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O. A. VAN DUZEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gouverneur, in the county of St. Lawrence, in the State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovementinFolding Tables,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in folding tables; and it consists in certain devices for locking the legs in position when folded or unfolded, the mechanisms for which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters indicate similar parts in both the specification and drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, an inverted plan view with the legs folded; Fig.3, a longitudinal section on line m m of Fig. 2; Fig. 1, a transverse central section on line yy of Fig. 1.

A is the table-top; B B, the legs hinged thereto; 0 c, the crossbattens near the ends and the under side of the table-top. D D are yokes secured at one end to the under side of the table-top at d d and at the other end to the crossbattens c c atff, said yokes being so constructed and applied that the cross-bars g g, which connect the legs, can turn freely inside of them, and in the cross-bars g g are secured spring-latches h h, adapted to engage corresponding depressions or notches, i i, in the yokes D D, so as to secure the legs by locking them when folded or unfolded, said locks being disengaged by depressing the spring-latches h it. Thus, as aforesaid, the legs are securely locked in either position, and readily disengaged from either position when desired by depressing the spring-locks.

It will be observed that the depressions or notches i i are provided respectively near the opposite ends of the yokes D, and that the spring-latches h on the cross-bars g of the hinged legs automatically engage said notches when the legs are folded or unfolded. It will thus be seen that the legs are firmly locked and sustained in either their folded or unfolded position, which is a desideratum, because if the legs were not held in a folded position the table could not be carried with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 3 without the legs dropping away from the top.

1 am well aware that tables have been provided with hinged legs and battens on the under side of the table-top, at or near the ends thereof, combined with a fiat spring having free ends acting on the cross-bars of the hinged 5 5 legs, whereby the latter are held in a folded or unfolded position; but such is not my invention.

An ironing-table has also been provided at one end with hinged legs, and with curved 6o braces having their ends secured to the under side of the table-top, and provided with a cen= tral notch, with which a pivoted latch on one of the table-legs is adapted to engage when the legs are unfolded; but such is not my invention.

It will be observed from the description herein that the spring-latches are located on the cross-bars at the upper ends of the hinged legs; that the yokes are centrally arranged with reference to the table-top, and that when the legs are unfolded the latches automatically and accurately engage the depressions or notches at the outer portions of the yokes, and that the cross-bars and the hinged legs when unfolded abut against the end battens, whereby the legs are steadied and substantially braced. These combined features of construction provide what is termed a folding table, which is substantial, efficient, easily 8o manipulated, and the locking of the legs both in their folded and unfolded positions is secure and efficient, with but little, if any, liability of the parts becoming broken or disarranged, as all are arranged with special reference to strength,durability, and substantial qualities.

Having thus described what I consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, what I claim is- In a folding table, the combination of a 0 table-top having on its under side, adjacent to each end, a transverse batten, the hinged legs, connected at their upper ends by cross-bars, a spring-latch attached to each of said crossbars at or near its center, the yokes attached 5 at their ends, respectively, to the under side of the table-top and to the battens, and provided at their opposite end portions with depressions or notches to engage the spring-latches on the cross-bars of the hinged legs in both the folded and unfolded positions of said legs, substantially as described.

CHARLES A. VAN DUZEE. Witnesses:

J. V. BAKER, Lnwrs EOKMANN. 

